


Reckless Abandon

by SpellCleaver



Series: Xtober 2020 [6]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Gen, Originally Posted on Tumblr, abandoned, it's a trap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:35:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29315694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpellCleaver/pseuds/SpellCleaver
Summary: Luke receives a distress call from a Rebel base on Orto Plutonia and goes to investigate.
Relationships: Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader
Series: Xtober 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2112750
Comments: 12
Kudos: 103





	Reckless Abandon

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted [here](https://spell-cleaver.tumblr.com/post/631432283500462081/day-8-whumptober-where-did-everybody) for the prompt "Where did everybody go?"

The Rebel base on Orto Plutonia had been sending out a distress signal for days now, so inevitably, when Luke Skywalker flew past it, he had to go and investigate.

“What do you see on the scanners, Artoo?” he asked. R2 beeped. “Yeah, that makes sense… If the heat generators are running, it’ll all show up as a warm lifeform, won’t it?” Another beeped affirmative.

“Well, better start the landing cycle anyway,” Luke said. It wasn’t like he could just _leave the base_ , not when there was a distress signal and he was in the area. He wasn’t stupid, he’d contacted the Rebels on Hoth—what was it with the Rebellion and setting up on ice planets at the moment?—but people could be dying down there!

Strange, though… He’d never really had much luck with the Force, but he couldn’t… _sense_ a whole lot of people. It was like a dark cloud had descended on the base, a mist, obscuring everything.

They lowered into atmo, soaring over the icy tundra and towards the base, built into the side of the mountain. When he approached the hangar, the doors opened automatically, and they set down the X-wing in there, then the doors closed again, but it was… quiet. No one hailed them. No one came to meet them.

He wrapped one hand around the hilt of his blaster and let the other hover at his side, where his lightsaber hung. He didn’t like this.

“Artoo, stay with the ship,” he said. “I’ll need you to keep it hot in case we need a quick getaway…”

Artoo warbled something rude and objectionable, but Luke was already creeping forward.

“Yeah, I know it’s a trap,” he muttered to himself. “But who is it a trap _for_?”

Artoo didn’t answer. Luke kept walking along the corridors, shivering as harsh winds bit at him even through his Hoth gear, glancing over his shoulder now and again.

He didn’t like this _at all_.

He cast his senses out one last time, but couldn’t sense _anyone_ specific. Had the base been abandoned? Had—he swallowed—everyone died? Why? And where were the bodies?

What had happened here?

The Force… There was a thin thread, tied to his heart, and it was tugging him in the direction of another hangar up ahead.

In a good way? In a bad way?

In a way that simply meant that _he would get answers_?

He didn’t know.

But he followed that thread all the same.

He reached the doors. They hissed open in front of him. He stepped inside, looking around—

And then several things happened at once.

First: the doors slammed shut behind him _immediately_ , so fast he thought they’d crush him before he got clear, and there was a loud _click_ as they locked.

Second: the Force stopped murmuring and started screaming. There _were_ presences on this base, but— but—

Third: Darth Vader stood in the centre of the hangar, and summoned Luke’s lightsaber to his hand.

“Welcome, young Skywalker,” he said as it slapped into his palm, and he took the chance to inspect it closely. “I have long been awaiting our meeting.”

Luke lifted his blaster and fired.

With his presence no longer shielded so tightly, Vader’s darkness _unfurled_ , like great wings at his back. He raised his hand and the bolts glanced right off it, before he waved a hand and Luke—no!

Luke clung to his blaster desperately as Vader tugged on it, but it just meant he was dragged closer to the dark lord—close enough that Vader took a step forward and seized his chin in one hand.

“At last,” he observed. “I have you.”

Luke spat in his eye plate and struggled to get free. That grip on his chin tightened painfully.

“Where—” he panted. “What did you do to the Rebels here!?”

“Killed them, of course. They were not subtle with their presence here, and only a short offence was required to obliterate them. I was simply going to burn the base, but when I heard you and your squadron were running solo missions in this part of space… I thought I could have some use for it.”

Luke whispered, “ _Me?_ ”

“Of course, young Skywalker.” Vader raised the hand with Luke’s lightsaber in it again, studying it _intently_ , then peering at Luke.

“There is _much_ about your past that you do not know…”


End file.
